Puppet equipped protective cloth for use on children



March 14, 1967 w. SESCO, JR 3,308,479

PUPPET EQUIPPED PROTECTIVE CLOTH FOR USE ON CHILDREN Filed Jan. 10, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Wa ne Seam; Jr

W MAW Y9 1 w ATTORNEYS March 14, 1967 w. si-zsco, JR 3,308,479

PUPPET EQUIPPED PROTECTIVE CLOTH FOR USE ON CHILDREN Filed Jan. 10, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Wayne 58500, Jr [MJ W89 .Pa/Jem United States Patent 3,308,479 PUPPET EQUIPPED PROTECTIVE CLOTH FOR USE ON CHELDREN Wayne Sesco, Jr., Prince George Drive, Hampton, Va. 23369 Filed Jan. 10, 1966, Ser. No. 526,938 5 Claims. (Cl. 2-50) The present invention relates to protective cloths comprising hair cloths for barbers, bibs, and the like adapted to be applied to children for the purpose of self-amusement, and is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No. 428,458, filed January 27, 1965, now abandoned.

In accordance with the invention, the protective cloth includes at least a front panel adapted to be secured in place over the front portion of a childs body, and wherein one or more hollow puppet heads are secured in place at the outer side of the front panel, the interior of the head being accessible from the under side of the panel to receive one or more fingers, or thumb of the child so as to enable the child to manipulate the puppet head. The puppet head can be secured in place directly at the cloth by providing an opening in the latter through which the neck portion of the head can be inserted in place, or the head can include a body portion establishing a short sleeve which latter is secured to an opening in the cloth, thus enabling the child to insert his hand and a portion of his forearm into the puppet in order to manipulate it.

With the protective cloth in place on the child, he is thus able to amuse himself and hence serves to divert his attention while other things are being done for him. The invention is applicable to various types of protective cloths. For example, it may be used as a hair cloth in barber shops thus making it easier for the barber to cut the childs hair since the hands and mind of the child are occupied in manipulating the puppets thus diver-ting his attention from the barber. The invention, in the form of a hair cloth may also be embodied in a home barber kit in order to make it easier for one to cut a childs hair in the home. The cloth may also be used by dentists and other practitioners in order to make it easier for them to work with a child. The cloth can also be designed as a childs bib in order to overcome difiiculties often encountered in feeding. Moreover, the cloth may be donned by the child simply as an amusement device to keep him occupied while at home or while traveling, etc.

The foregoing as well as other objects and advantages inherent in the invention will become more apparent from the following description of two suitable embodiments of the invention when considered wit-h the accompanying drawings. In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of one embodiment of the invention in the form of a hair cloth to be worn by a child in the barbers chair;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the hair cloth;

FIG. 3 is a section of the cloth taken on line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view in perspective of another embodiment of the invention in the form of a childs bib;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are enlarged perspectives of a portion of the bib showing details of the opening in the bib for receiving the neck portion of the puppet head and the arrangement for tying it in place; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view through the hollow puppet head and bib.

With reference now to the drawings, the hair cloth embodiment of the invention as depicted in FIGS. 1-3 is seen to be composed of a generally rectangular cloth panel 1 with an opening 1a extending downward from the upper edge of the panel to receive the neck of the child.

3,368,479 Patented Mar. 14, 1967 ice As shown in FIG. 1, the front part of the panel is draped over the front of the child in customary fashion, and the two corners 1b, 10 at the opening 1a are secured together in any practical manner. A safety pin is customarily used for this purpose by barbers but tie strings would obviously serve just as well.

In accordance with the embodiment of the invention, the hair cloth incorporates a pair of puppets 2 and 3 designed for self-amusement of the child while his hair is being cut. Many barbers experience much difiiculty in cutting a childs hair. Many cry and go through antics resulting in head movements which obviously make it very difiicult for the barber to use clippers and scissors. Others raise their hands to their head and interfere with the barber. All of these antics not only make for difficulties in cutting the childs hair but also sometimes lead to accidental injury to the child from the scissors or clippers. The puppets 2 and 3 provide self-amusement and divert his attention from what the barber is doing. Moreover, since the arms and hands of the child are inserted into the body portions of the puppets, it also becomes practically impossible for-the child to raise his arms and thus interfere with the barber. This so-called tying down of the childs arms can better be assured, if desired, by providing tie strings 4 and 5 at opposite side edges of the cloth panel 1, these two strings being adapted to be passed around to the back of the child and there tied together.

The puppets themselves are of conventional figure construction and are adapted to be hand-manipulated in the usual manner by inserting diiferenct fingers and thumb into the hollow head and outspread arm parts of the figure. The head and arm parts of the puppets 2 and 3 are designated by 2a, 2b and 3a, 3b respectively. The hollow body parts 20, 3c of the two puppet figures receive and enclose the arms of the child and thus serve as sleeve elements. The two puppets can represent the same figure or, as illustrated, can represent different figures, thus adding to the interest and imagination of the child while playing with them.

Assuming the hollow body parts 20, 3c of the puppet figures to be of a length sufiicient to constitute a sleeve for the arms of the child, the puppets may be attached to the cloth simply by cutting two openings 1d into the cloth panel 1 and stitching the lower edges of the body parts 2c, 3c around the edges of these openings, as depicted in FIG. 3. As a variant, where longer sleeve parts are desired, it is also possible to set separate sleeve portions in the cloth panel 1 and then attach the hollow body portions 20, 3c of the puppets.

Preferably, as shown in the drawings, the two puppet figures are attached to the cloth panel in a downwardly and outwardly inclined attitude, and with their faces toward the front so that when the childs arms are inserted into the puppets, a slight natural raising motion of his arms will bring the faces of the puppets naturally into his view and in an optimum position for selfamusement.

By amusing himself with the puppets while the barber is cutting his hair, it is believed to be self-evident that many of the barbers usual difficulties and vexations experienced in cutting childrens hair will be overcome.

Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated ir FIGS. 4-7 from which it will be seen that the protective cloth is in the form of a childs' bib 6 provided with tier 7, 8 at the upper part thereof for tying the bib in place around the neck of the child. In this embodiment o: the invention, the body of the puppet is eliminated, thu: there is no sleeve portion, and the hollow puppet head: 9, 10, made of soft rubber, are secured directly upor the outer side of the bib 6 by providing suitably spacer openings 11 in the bib which can be bound at 12 to smooth the edge of the opening and resist tearing. The neck portion 13 of each puppet head is inserted through the opening 11 and secured in place by means of a draw string 14. A loop 14a in the draw string is placed around the neck portion of the puppet head and the opposite end portions of the draw string are then passed through spaced slits 15, 16 in the bib from the under to the upper side thereof, drawn tight to tighten the loop 14a about the neck 13 and then tied in bows as shown in FIG. 4. When the bib has been tied around the childs neck, he can then insert one or more fingers of each hand into the hollow puppet heads from the underside of the bib to animate them. When the bib has become soiled, the puppet heads can be easily removed from the bib for laundering by untying the draw strings 14.

While the illustrated embodiment of the bib in accordance with the invention is provided with two such puppet treads, obviously it can be made with only one head, f this is desired. However, two puppet heads are preferred since this will serve to keep both hands of the :hild occupied.

In conclusion, it will be apparent that the puppet head :quipped cloth for children in accordance with the in- 'ention has many applications. In addition to barber xl-oths and bibs, it can also be used by dentists and docors to divert'their attention during their administrations. doreover, the improved cloth provided with the puppets an also be used simply as an amusement device for chilren during play or an artifice to keep them occupied nd under control while traveling.

I claim:

-1. A protective cloth for use on children, said pro- :ctive cloth comprising a protective panel having an exosed outer side and an under side when in use and aving a cut-out portion at its top edge adapted to fit round the neck of the child, said protective cloth being lapted to be secured in place on the child to cover the ont portion of the childs body, at least one hollow lppet head secured in place on the outer side of said :nel below said cut-out port-ion, and means providing :cess to the interior of said puppet head from the under ie of said panel to receive one or more fingers of the llld for animation of said puppet head.

2. A protective cloth for use on children as defined claim 1 and wherein a pair of puppet heads are secured place on the outer side of said panel, said puppet 4 located at equal distances from a center line from the upper to the lower edges of said heads being extending panel.

3. A protective cloth for use on children as defined in claim 1 wherein said puppet head is provided with a hollow neck part establishing access to the interior of said puppet head, wherein said panel includes an opening through which said neck part is inserted, and which further includes means for securing said neck part to said panel.

4. A protective cloth for use on children as defined in claim 1 wherein said panel includes an opening and wherein said means providing access to the interior of said puppet head from the under side of said panel comprises a sleeve-like member forming a puppet body part, one end of said sleeve-like member being secured around said panel opening for insertion of the childs hand and the other end of said sleeve-like member being secured to said puppet head.

5. A protective cloth for use on children, said protective cloth comprising a protective panel having an exposed outer side and an under side when in use and having a cut-out portion at its top edge adapted to fit around the neck of the child, at least one hollow puppet head provided with a hollow neck part establishing access to the interior of said puppet head from the under side of said panel to receive one or more fingers of the child for animation of said puppet head, said panel including an opening below said cut-out portion and through which said neck part is inserted, and means for tying said neck part in place at said opening comprising a tie string adapted to be looped around said neck part, the ends of said tie string being passed through other openings in said panel adjacent said neck opening and tied together.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 683,857 10/1901 Kilpatrick 46-154 1,464,546 8/1923 Spero 250 1,641,175 9/1927 Lemieux 46-154 2,532,932 12/ 1950 Neiswander 249 2,655,762 10/1953 Burke 46--154 X 2,727,240 12/1955 Marshall 2-50 2,931,137 4/1960 Ellett 46154 3,106,041 10/1963 Kahn 46-154 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner. A. R. GUEST, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A PROTECTIVE CLOTH FOR USE ON CHILDREN, SAID PROTECTIVE CLOTH COMPRISING A PROTECTIVE PANEL HAVING AN EXPOSED OUTER SIDE AND AN UNDER SIDE WHEN IN USE AND HAVING A CUT-OUT PORTION AT ITS TOP EDGE ADAPTED TO FIT AROUND THE NECK OF THE CHILD, SAID PROTECTIVE CLOTH BEING ADAPTED TO BE SECURED IN PLACE ON THE CHILD TO COVER THE FRONT PORTION OF THE CHILD''S BODY, AT LEAST ONE HOLLOW PUPPET HEAD SECURED IN PLACE ON THE OUTER SIDE OF SAID PANEL BELOW SAID CUT-OUT PORTION, AND MEANS PROVIDING ACCESS TO THE INTERIOR OF SAID PUPPET HEAD FROM THE UNDER SIDE OF SAID PANEL TO RECEIVE ONE OR MORE FINGERS OF THE CHILD FOR ANIMATION OF SAID PUPPET HEAD. 